Caiman passive output mod revealed

[MartinT]

I think the clarity caps have tinned ends to help with soldering

Actually they have bare copper ends but I found that not all the enamel had been scraped off properly. I suggest you give the wire ends a little rub with sandpaper and then they will solder nicely.

[apmusson]

Actually they have bare copper ends but I found that not all the enamel had been scraped off properly. I suggest you give the wire ends a little rub with sandpaper and then they will solder nicely.

Thanks Martin

I will certainly do that. To tell you the truth I have been putting off messing with the caiman circuit board and the fact that I can do this soldering separately (where the only damage I could do is limited to the claritycaps) is giving me the confidence to attempt it.

Ade

[Gazjam]

Yes. I have a Caiman with DAC cap and Murata Reg upgrades installed powered with a modded Maplins linear CB Radio PSU. All mods performed by Mr Jimmy Dripps.

Ade

Hi Ade,

I've one of those Maplin CBR supply's, and are looking into improving the components in it...
Wouldn't mind some info on what you did to it, and a comment on the improvments?

Our Dacs seem to be at the same stage..

[Reid Malenfant]

Thanks for that Dave, my amp impedance is 47k Ohms.
Just concerned that the sound would be a bit bass light with the 1.6.....but a lower roll off freq. means the oppsosite?

excuse my ignornace!

You are highly unlikely to get any difference in audible bass level from changing a 1uf cap to 1.6uf All you'll be doing is shifting the -3Db frequency lower & it'll already be sub 10Hz.

There is a very good reason for possibly doing this though & not a lot of people tend to think about it. The phase of the waveform will still be shifted slightly at audible frequencies (20Hz & higher) & this along with phase shifts caused by loudspeakers can be heard

What's even worse is that nearly every (if not all) bit/s of kit in the audio chain will also likely have a high pass filter due to capacitors at about the same frequency. The consequencies of this will definately be heard in the audio band In reality if all these DC blocking filters were at 0.1Hz or lower, there would be a definate increase in fidelity in the lower bass range due to vastly less equipment induced phase shift

Moral is to keep the -3Db frequency as low as possible except on a warp filter for a record deck

[chrism]

Anyone tried 10uf caps in the Caiman (my amp is 20k ohm impedance)? Interested in the type of cap tried and benefits/disadvantages.

I think Leo tried some 10uf MKP2000 but not sure if he thought they bettered the good old "benchmark" 47uf non polar Rubycons.

Regards

Chris

[Ali Tait]

I think he's still running them in,but I'd say any half decent film cap should better an electrolytic.

[Ali Tait]

OMartin,how are you getting on with the CC's? Any further improvements?

[apmusson]

Gaz,

Sorry if I misled you - the mod I did was adjusting the output voltage as stan indicated in his post. I would love to be able to claim otherwise - but it just aint true.

I will definitely give an update on the ClarityCaps once I've soldered and installed them and given them 24 hours (?) burnin time.

Ade

Hi Ade,

I've one of those Maplin CBR supply's, and are looking into improving the components in it...
Wouldn't mind some info on what you did to it, and a comment on the improvments?

Our Dacs seem to be at the same stage..

[Gazjam]

Gaz,

Sorry if I misled you - the mod I did was adjusting the output voltage as stan indicated in his post. I would love to be able to claim otherwise - but it just aint true.

I will definitely give an update on the ClarityCaps once I've soldered and installed them and given them 24 hours (?) burnin time.

Ade

Ah, ok.

Good luck with the soldering!

[MartinT]

OMartin,how are you getting on with the CC's? Any further improvements?

They're improving nicely, Ali, but I don't quite have the subterranean bass of the Rubycons. My preamp's single-ended input impedance is 47k ohms. I'm going to order a couple of 1.6uF Clarity ESAs (the MRs are too big). I'll properly wrap them in foam to prevent vibration against the PCB rather than just use the foam pads I've stuck to the current ones.